Knife-sharpener



(No Model.)

G. J/MQGARTHY. KNIFE SHARPENBR.

Patented Mar. 17, 1896.

AN DREW i GRMIM". NUTO-UYNQWRSHINGTBE D5.

UNITED STATES ATENT rricn.

GERALD JOSEPH MCCARTHY, OF ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THOMAS S. MEEK, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

KNIFE-SHARPENER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,716, dated March 17, 1896.

Application filed April 11, 1895. Renewed January '7, 1896. Serial No. 574,64e9. (No model.)

To all whom may concern.-

Be it known that I, GERALD JOSEPH MG- CARTHY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Orange, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Knife- Sharpeners, of which the following is a clear, full, and exact specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, where- Figure 1 isa perspective view of my improved knife-sharpener, showing also the position of the knife in the process of sharpening. Fig. 2 is a side view showing how my improved knife-sharpener is clamped on the edge of a table. Fig. 3 shows the shape of a blank stamped out of sheet-steel of which the file-holder is made. Fig. i is perspective view in similar position as Fig. 1, showing the clamping-frame with the file-holder removed. Fig. 5 is a perspective View of the file-holder, showing principally the construction and position of the smooth elastic tongue upon which the edge of the knife glides in the process of sharpening. Fig. 6 is the same view as Fig. 5, showing a modified construction of the smooth elastic edge.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

My invention relates to whetting-tools for knives and cutting-blades generally; and it consists of a clamping-frame to which a suitably-constructed metallic case for holding a file or some other sharpening medium is attached and having a slot and a tongue arranged to admit the blade of a knife between the surface of the file and the smooth elastic edge of the tongue.

Frame A is made of steel wire, being bent in suitable shape (shown in Fig. 4) over a pattern or in a machine constructed for the purpose. This frame constitutes a combination of a clamp and of a lever, the latter having its fulcrum in the parallel stretches Z), handle a, forming the longer and hook cits shorter arm. The dotted lines in Fig. 2 show the position of the frame when slid upon the edge of a table, and the full lines show how it is clamped by pressing upon handle a.

Case 13 or file-holder is made of sheet-steel, a blank of the shape shown in Fig. 8 being stamped out and then worked into the form shown in Fig. 1. The first bend is made onlines shown in dots between wings f and g. Then edges of the parts hand 71. and 7c are rolled to make suitable fastenings upon the corresponding parts of the frame, and after that the second bend is made on the dotted lines between and f, closing the case. Finally the parts i and t are bent inward to provide a bottom hold for the file O, and part c is bent outward to open the slots for the knife. The case or file-holder B is then attached to frame A in the following manner: The edges of the parts h and it having been previously rolled or bent upward, but not entirely closed, case B is slid on the parallel stretches b and b, so that its back 6 is turned toward handle a, and then parts it and 7c are pressed to close around them. lValls f and g are drawn somewhat nearer together to tightly inclose file 0 and hold it firmly in position. This is done for the purpose that the file may be readj usted and used up successively on its whole surface. Tongue (I may be formed by cutting out the strip (Z, as indicated in Fig. 3, bending it over and shaping its edge, as shown in Fig. 5. Tongue d, made in this manner, may be fastened with a rivet to back e of the case. The tongue may also be made of a strip of sheet-steel independently of the case B and riveted to it, as shown in Fig. (5.

The edge of tongue d is smoothly rounded and protrudes over the edge of back 2, standing out at an acute angle with the file C. The tongue (1 forms an elastic support for a blade drawn through the sharpener. The blade will glide on it downward until its edge reaches the intersecting point. The blade will then pass in a straight line between the file C and the'tongue d, and while it will be ground on the side turned toward the file its other side, passing on the tongue d,will be smoothed and straightened. Should the blade have a Wireedge formed by previous grinding on a stone, this wire-edge will be turned'against the file and quickly removed.

The file-holder may also be used independently of the handle or combined with another holding or clamping device. The handle may also be used separately or combined with another sharpening device. Instead of file C a whetting-stone or a piece of emery or carborundum or of some other whetting substance may be used to advantage in my improved knife-sharpener; but I prefer to use a file of medium grain.

Upon this specification I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A knife-sharpener comprising a whetting-block set in a case formed of a blank of sheet metal, and having Wings or braces inclosing tightly the whetting-bloek and holding it in position, slots admitting a blade to be sharpened at an acute angle to the whetting-block, a tongue with a round, smooth edge, projecting over the edge of the slot and pressing the blade against the Whetting-bloek, a holder to which the ease is affixed, comprising a clamping-hook, a support for the case and a handle, the parts being arranged as shown and described in this specification,

2. In a knife-sharpener, the combination with a suitable holder, of a case made of a blank of sheet metahhaving Wings or braces inclosing tightly a Whetting-blook and hold ing it in position, slots admitting a blade to be sharpened at an acute angle to the whetting-block, a tongue having a round, smooth edge projecting over the edge of the slot and pressing the blade against thewhetting-block.

In a knife-sharpener, the combination with a case inclosing a whetting-block, of a frame secured thereto, and comprising a hook and a handle, constituting together a clamping-lever, the handle forming the longer and the hook its shorter arm; the frame being adapted to be slid on the edge of a table and held in position by pressure upon the handle GERALD JOSEPH MCCARTHY.

\Vitnesses RICHARD J ELLIOTT, JOHN P. NoRnsTRoM. 

